Report finds businesses face rising staff turnover rates

Millennials in particular are testing the job market more often than older workers.

Photo by Nik MacMillan on Unsplash

A 2018 survey of Australian HR Institute (AHRI) members has found more than half of millennial age employees (57 per cent) leave their employer each year.

A majority of survey respondents (63 per cent) stated an ideal turnover rate of between 1-10 per cent. Yet reported turnover in the 26-35 age bracket was more than a third (37 per cent) and 20 per cent for ages 18 to 25.

The 2018 AHRI report is the fourth in a longitudinal series from the years 2008, 2012 and 2015. A comparison shows that the preference for less than 10 per cent churn has fallen from 69 per cent in the 2015 survey, suggesting a growing acceptance of higher employee churn levels than in the recent past.

Despite this, the survey found turnover among older workers has fallen slightly in the three years since 2015, dropping from around 8 per cent to 6 per cent in 2018.

AHRI chief executive Lyn Goodear acknowledged the report as a snapshot of movements of labour in the Australian workforce through the insights of Australian HR practitioners.

“It’s no surprise that the 2018 findings point to millennials having by far the highest level of turnover in excess of 50 per cent, suggesting that they are more likely to test the job market than older employees,” she said.

“The much lower churn of older workers suggests that organisations may be working to retain valuable corporate memory, and that older workers are becoming aware that as life expectancy rises, they will need to remain in the workforce longer.”

Turnover averaged 18 per cent over the past 12 months, a rate almost identical to the 18.5 per cent 2008 turnover rate prior to the GFC.

“Following lower employee churn reported in our 2012 and 2015 surveys, history is repeating itself ten years later with the 2018 turnover rate on a par with the 2008 rate. Our 2008 survey was conducted prior to the global financial crisis,” said Goodear.